Training descents were carried out from a Mi-8 helicopter by paratroopers-firefighters of the Ladoga and Pudozh aviation departments, the press service of the head of the Republic of Karelia reported on March 16.
On the territory of the Sands airport, 38 people trained to descend from the helicopter from different heights: 10, 20, 30 and 40 meters.
Training descents are conducted before each fire season. If a firefighter fails the test, he or she cannot be allowed to fight fires.
Each participant performed five descents from different heights. Before starting air training, the paratroopers received technical training and passed the necessary exams. Until April 1, 150 specialists will be trained.
Sending rescuers by helicopter to the scene of a forest fire is very effective and is often used in Karelia: in this way the scene of the fire can be reached in a short time in hard-to-reach areas.
We remind you that the parachute and airborne fire services of the Air and Forest Protection Service are a single parachute and airborne fire service (PDPS).
Fire extinguishing by air assault in the USSR was proposed by Georgy Aleksandrovich Mokeev, who for more than 10 years supervised all forest extinguishing work in the USSR. On June 19, 1936, together with instructor IZ Levin, he made the first jump to the source of a forest fire in the Gorky region. After disembarking, they mobilized the population of several towns to put out the fire.
In 1938, for the first time, firefighters with parachutes independently extinguished a forest fire.
In 1952, the PO-2 and Sh-2 aircraft were replaced by the An-2 aircraft, which could carry up to 10 paratroopers-firefighters. Firefighters-parachutists extinguished the fire and then cut off the area so that a helicopter could land there, or they reached the river and rafted it to the nearest populated area.
In 1958 the Avialesookhrana institution was created.
Typically, an airborne firefighting team consists of 6 firefighting paratroopers and may be part of a 12-person airborne firefighting team led by an instructor.
Source: Rossa Primavera
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